Electric motor.



H. A. RHODES.

ELECTRIC MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20,1909.

993,459. Patented May 30,1911.

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H. A. RHODES.

ELEUTRIG MOTOR.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 20.1909.

Patented May 30, 1911.

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v ELECTRIC MOTOR. APPLIGATION FILED JULY 20, 1909.

993,459, Patented May 30, 1911.

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514mm WWI wows UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HARRY A. RHODES, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNIVERSAL MOTORCOMPANY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA TERRITORY.

ELECTRIC MOTOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. HARRY A. RHonEs, citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Motors; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to theaccomplanying drawings, and to the letters and gures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric motors. Most motorsof this class run at a highspeed, thus reducing the construction weightand allowing a. high efficiency. For practical use however, the motorspeed must be geared down to a considerable extent. The means employedto accomplish this speed reduction heretofore,

. so far as I am aware, have been very complicated, in order to reducethe loss of power to a minimum. In other cases the speed reduction hasbeen attained by disregarding the loss of efliciency in the motor. Theconstruction employed in the first case, however, has provedunsatisfactory for practical use, on account of the many complicationsconnected therewith, which endanger the working of the power producer,and the second form of construction is at present generally usedwherever speed regulation is necessary. It is well known that by usinsuch means as to decrease the efliciency o the motor, the resulting lossof power is very high. It is obvious therefore, that the price per H. P.in such cases is quite out of proportion to the work accomplished.

The dbject of my present invention is to provide means for regulatingand reversing the movement of any motor without losing much power ingearing,'and still retain the same efiiciency of the motor all the time.This is accomplished by causing both members of the motor to rotate inopposite directions and introducing a third member, to which the reducedspeed or diderential is communicated, the third member being connectedto do work of any desired character.

The regulation of speed is accomplished by varying the difi'erence ofthe two individual speeds of the two motor members; as each rotatingmember has a certain kinetic Specification of Letters Patent.PatentedMay 30,

Application filed July 20, 1909. Serial No. 508,654.

energy, I provide means to transfer this on that part of the kineticenergy which is available from the member whose speed is reduced. speedis employed in this specification, peripheral speed will be understoodas dis tinguished from speed measured in revolutions.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction of motor, as Well asthe principle upon which it operates, I will proceed to describe thesame in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, inwhich is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is an elevation of a motor equipped with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the left-handside of the same. Fig. 3 is a similar section of the right-hand side ofthe construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectionof the central part of said construction, the parts being shown on alarger scale.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the armature member of the motor, and 6 thefield member thereof. It must be understood however, that these termsare applied 'to these members for convenience only,.and in order todistinguish the one member from the other. It may also be stated thatinorder to carry out the principle of my improved construction, .it is notnecessary that the two motor members moving in opposite directions shallnecessarily maintain such a relation to each other that one may alwaysbe properly termed the field and the other the armature.

It may be stated that so far as the general construction of the motorwhich I employ is concerned, it may be of any ordinarymanufacture-except that the two members, for convenience designated thearmature member and the field member, must both be permitted to revolve,and the polarity of the current supplied to them must be so regulatedthat the two members will rotate in opposite directions. The speed ofthe two members will, of course, be determined b theirrelative mass. Oneextremity, 7, of the Hence wherever the term equal casing or fieldmember of the motor, is supplied with rings 8 and 9 which are separatedfrom the part 7 by insulating material 10. The current from thegenerator (not shown) is supplied to these rings and conductors 12 and13, mounted in the motor, lead from the rings 8 and 9 respectively, tothe brushes 14 and 15, which engage the commutator 16, through which thearmature member 5 is supplied with current. The coils of the fieldmember are also supplied with current through the conductors 17 and 17which are electrically connected with the conductors 12 and 13, see Fig.4.

One extremityof the armature shaft 18, is keyed as shown at 19 to thehubof a wheel 20, journaled upon a stationary sleeve 21, by means of ballbearings 22, interposed between steel rings 23 and 24 mounted upon theWheel and sleeve respectively. The periphery of the wheel 20, engages aconeshaped member 25, fast upon a spindle 26, journaled in a holder 27,the latter being trunnioned upon a bracket 29, connected with thestationary sleeve 21 of the motor, by means of a screw pin 30, passingthrough a slot 31, formed in the said sleeve. This pin 30 is connectedwith a rod 32, threaded in a cap 33, journaled on the outer extremity ofthe sleeve 21, and formed integral with an operating wheel 34. As therod 32 is prevented from rotating the rod may be caused to travellongitudinally within the sleeve 21, by rotating the wheel 24 and thecap 33, thus changing the relative position of the bracket 29, uponwhich the holder 27 is mounted. This holder 27 carries a secondconeshaped member 25', mounted and made fast upon the spindle 26, thelatter being journaled in the frame or holder 27, as just explained. Asshown in the drawing, the two cones 25 and 25, have their smallerextremities toward the center. As just explained, the periphery of thewheel 20, en gages cone- 25 while the field-casing member 7 has aninwardly extending flange 35,engaging the cone member 25*. In order thatthe two cone members may be held in proper operative contact with theparts 20 and 35, the holder 27 is provided at one end with an extension36, which engages one extremity of a coil spring 37, whose oppositeextremity engages an extension 38 of the bracket 29. It will now beunderstood that the wheel 20, engaging one of the cones, is con nectedto rotate with the armature member of the motor, while the flange 35,engaging the other cone, is mounted upon and rotates with the fieldmember of the motor. also state that the trunnioned device carrying thetwo cones 25 and 25 is a speed regulating device, whereby any desireddifferential speed between the two members of the motor, that is to saythe field and armature members, may be maintained. As illus- I will thatof the other member accelerated by the adjustment of the speedregulating device. For instance if this device is so adjusted that theperiphery of the wheel 20 and the engaging part of the flange 35, bothengage the cones 25 and 25, at the center or where the said cones are ofequal circumference, the speed of the two members will remain the samein relation to each other, and the speed regulating device will have noeffect. If,

-however, the speed regulating device be shifted toward the left, seeFig. 2, by turning the wheel'34 and the cap 33, so that the flange 35shall engage the smaller extremity of its cone and the periphery of thewheel 20 shall engage the larger extremity of its cone, the speed of thefield member of the motor will be retarded and that of the armaturemember; of the motor correspondingly accelerated. Furthermore if weassume that the circumference of the cone 25, where it engages the wheel20, is three times that of the circumference of the cone 25 where thelatter engages the flange 35, the result will be that the armaturemember of the motor is traveling three times as fast as the field memberof the motor. The extremity of the armature shaft remote from itsconnection with the wheel 20, is keyed to a sleeve 39, as shown at 40,thus connecting the armature member of the motor with this sleeve. Asleeve 41 is also connected at one extremity with the field member ofthe motor, by means of a cone shaped casing member 42, which is madefast to one end of the casing or field of the motor, as shown at 43. Theopposite extremity of the sleeve 41, is connected by means of a bracket44, with a bearing ring 45, which engages a series of rollers 46,interposed between the ring 45 and an opposing ring 47, formed upon theouter extremity of the sleeve 39, connected with the armature member asheretofore explained. All of the rollers 46 of the series are mounted onspindles 48. The inner extremities of the spindles 48 engage a ring 49,while their outer extremities are connected with the detachable head 50,of a wheel or pulley 51, from which the differential speed may betransmitted to the device or machine to be operated. V

In the foregoing description it has been assumed that the speedregulating device has been so adjusted that the two motor members aretraveling at different speeds in the proportion of one to three, that isto say we have assumed that the armature mem her is traveling threetimes as fast as the field member,and in this case the speeds.

may be considered either in terms of revolutions or in terms ofperipheral travel, since the parts engaging the speed regulating conesare of the same circumference. Attention is now called to the fact thatthe bearing ring 47, engaging the rollers 46, is of less circumferencethan the bearing ring 45, engaging the same rollers. Now if the armaturemember with which the ring 47 is connected, travels three times as fastin revolutions, as the field member with which the ring 45 travels, theperipheral speed of the two rings 45 and 47 will have a still smallerdifferential, and it is evident that in order for the speed of the ring45 traveling in one direction to neutralize the speed of the ring 47traveling in the opposite direction, so that there would be no orbitaltravel of the rollers 46, it would be necessary for the ring 47 to makeless than one revolution, While the ring 45 was making a single completerevolution. In any event however, the relative rapid travel of the ring47 in one direction, is neutralized to the extent of the travel of thering 45 in the opposite direction, and if we should as sume that theperipheral travel of the two rings is in the proportion of two to-one,the differential speed imparted to the pulley 51,

'would be one half of the speed of the ring 47. From this it is evidentthat by adjusting the regulating device, any desired differential may bedelivered to the pulley or wheel 51 and transmitted to any device to beoperated.

It is evident that the pulley or wheel 51, might be a vehicle Wheel ifdesired, or a pulley with which a belt may be connected for transmittingmotion to any machine or device to be operated.

The wheel 51 is provided with a hollow journal or sleeve 52 interposedbetween the sleeve 41 and a stationary bearing 53, mounted upon apedestal 54, of the frame work.

In order to reduce the friction between the bearing 53, the pulleysleeve 52, and the sleeves 39 and 41, ball bearings 55, are employed.

It will be understood from what has already been stated, that in orderto reverse the travel of the member 51, to which is transmitted thedifferential speed between the two motor members, it will only benecessary to reverse the position of the speed regulator, that is to sayreferring to Fig. 2, by shifting the latter toward the right, which maybe accomplished by turning the hand wheel 34, whereby the periphery ofthe wheel 20 will act upon the smaller extremity of its cone 25, whilethe flange 35 will act upon the larger extremity of its cone member 25In this case the field member of the motorwill have the greater the twomotor members may be determined with perfect accuracy since by theproper adjustment of the regulating device the difl'erential speedbetween the two motor members may be regulated as desired, and in favorof either member, the member having the greater travel determining thedirection of the rotation of the third member 51. In Fig. 1 of thedrawing, I have illustrated a suitable construction to accomplish. thispurpose, the same consisting of two blocks 56, connected by a rod 57,each block having an upward projection 58, adapted to engage a recess Aemployed in the rims 59 forming the exterior rims 59 of the fieldmember. One of these plugs is connected by means of a rod 60, with ahand lever 61, fulcrumed at 62. When this lever is thrown to the dottedline position in Fig. l, the locking device isthrown to a correspondingposition, whereby the projections 58 engage the recesses of the rims ofthe field of the motor and lock the latter and its attachments againstrotation.

The mechanism, whereby the speed difi'erential of two electric motormembers, rotating in opposite directions, may be transmitted to a thirdmember, to give the latter any desired slow speed, regardless of thevelocity of the rotating members of the motor, may be advantageouslyutilized by reversing the operation of the same, when it is desired tochange the electric motor into a dynamo or generator. In this case, itwill only be necessary to connect a slow speed engine with the thirdmember, of the said differential speed mechanism; in which event theoperation of the motor parts will, of course, be given the same velocityin opposite directions that could be initially imparted when the deviceis used as a motor,

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in order to produce a corresponding difterential slow speed in the thirdmember. This construction will, therefore, overcome a diflicultyheretofore experienced, viz: that ,it has been found impossible toemploy certain slow speed engines for generating electricity, since themaximum speed at which it is practicable to run these engines, is notsufficient for electrical generating purposes on a commercial scale.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A motor having its two members mounted to rotate in oppositedirections and at varying speeds, the two motor members havingextenslons at opposite ends of the motor, a regulating device actingupon the extensions of the motor members at one end thereof, and a thirdmember acted on by the motor members at the opposite end thereof, toutilize the difierential speed of the two members substantially asdescribed.

2. A motor whose field and armature members are mounted and connected torotate in opposite directions, the two members of the motor havingcircular bearing extensions at one end thereof, a speed regulatingdevice, acting upon the said extensions to produce any desireddiflerential speed in favor of either member, extensions at the oppositeend of the motor forming bearing rings annularly arranged, and a deviceequipped with rollers interposed between the two bearing rings, therollers of the said device being mounted to rotate on their individualaxes and to travel in an orbit, whereby the said device is adapted toutilize the differential speed between the two motor members.

3. A motor whose field and armature members are mounted and connected torotate in opposite directions, the two members having circular bearingextensions, the extension of the field member surrounding and inclosingthe extension of the armature member, a speed regulating device alsoinclosed by the extension of the field member and acting upon thecircular bearing parts of the said extensions, means for adjusting thespeed regulating device to produce any desired differential speed, andmeans connected with the motor members for utilizing the differentialspeed between the two members, substantially as described.

4. A motor having its field and armature members mounted to rotate inopposite directions, the said motor members having extensions at one endof the motor, a speed regulating device acting on the said extensions toproduce any desired differential speed, the motor members havingextensions eeaese at the opposite end forming bearing rings annularlyarranged, and a third member interposed between the said bearing ringsto utilize the differential speed of the motor members, substantially asdescribed.

5. A motor whose field and armature members are mounted to rotate inopposite directions, the said members having extensions at one end ofthe motor, including circular bearing parts, a speed regulating deviceadapted to engage said bearing parts, and means arranged coaxially withthe motor members for adjusting the speed regulating device to produceany desired differential speed in favor of either motor member.

6. A motor having its field and armature members mounted to rotate inopposite directions, the said members having bearing extensions at oneend of the motor, and a speed regulating device inclosed by one of thebearing extensions of one of the motor members, the said speedregulating device engaging both bearing extensions of the motor membersand adjustable to produce any desired difierential speed in favor ofeither member, substantially as described.

7. A motor whose field and armature members are mounted to rotate inopposite directions, the said members having extensions at one end ofthe motor, a speed regulating device inclosed by the extension of onernotor member and arranged to engage both extensions of the motormembers and adjustable to produce any desired differential speed infavor of either member, the motor members having annularly arrangedbearing rings, and a third member engaged by the bearin rings of the twomembers to utilize the difierential speed, the third member including ahousing inclosing the bearing rings of the motor members, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

I HARRY A. RHODES. Witnesses I A. J. OBnnnv, Jnssm F. HOBART.

